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January 28, 2013 04:57 PM Eastern Time

AHF Leads Call for Leadership Reform in L.A. County Public Health
Department

With a Director who is accountable to no one; unmitigated cronyism
and insider dealings; and rampant punitive actions and threats against
any agency that protests their lack of professionalism, Los Angeles
County’s Public Health Department is doing little to ensure effective
health services for the citizens it is meant to protect

Leading global nonprofit AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is leading
a call from the citizens of L.A. County to demand leadership reform
along with a heightened level of professionalism and diplomacy from the
County Public Health Department

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The purpose of the County Health Department is to protect the citizens
of the 85 out of 88 cities in Los Angeles County it serves. But a lack
of professional leadership coupled with under-the-table dealings and
favoritism has left the people living in those cities at high risk for
medical inefficiencies in the event of a virus outbreak or epidemic.

“We are fortunate that Los Angeles County hasn’t been faced with any
threats of an epidemic outbreak recently, because if we were the current
actions – and inactions – taking place within the County Public Health
Department would leave citizens open to considerable risk and
ineffective care options”

Responding to this blatant lack of accountability, refusal to adhere to
bidding laws, and mismanagement that has led to compromised care
systems, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS
organization, is asking Los Angeles County residents to call their
supervisors and demand an investigation into the Public Health
Department’s procedures. The goal is that being held accountable to
their duties will lead to improved service to county residents and
treatment of health partners.

“We are fortunate that Los Angeles County hasn’t been faced with any
threats of an epidemic outbreak recently, because if we were the current
actions – and inactions – taking place within the County Public Health
Department would leave citizens open to considerable risk and
ineffective care options,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein.
“The dangerous practices of insider dealing and granting contracts
without the required bidding process must be curbed for the sake of Los
Angeles County residents, and we ourselves must take action to protect
ourselves by calling our supervisors.”

In addition to routinely granting contracts to health providers without
the financial bidding that is required by law, the Public Health
Department has also stripped the Sexually Transmitted Disease unit of
professional leadership, overturned care systems without preparing those
being served, and failed to enforce public health laws like the
requirement that condoms be used during the filming of pornography. The
Department’s inability to enforce existing state and federal laws
requiring this practice led AHF to usher the introduction and passage of
Measure B, the so-called condoms in porn law. Measure B forces LA County
Public Health officials to enforce the standing condom use laws in porn.
County voters passed the measure last November with a majority of 57% in
favor and 43% opposed.

Additional procedural missteps that leave the public open to danger in
the event of a county health scare include misinformation being
disseminated to the county’s Board of Supervisors from senior staff
members at the Public Health Department, as well as a striking lack of
accountability for Department Director Dr. Jonathan Fielding’s actions.
Accountable to no one, the Board of Supervisors often passes Fielding’s
decisions regarding public health in the county without any questioning
or investigation. When an agency protested this clear cronyism, the
Board openly threatened to cut off the organization’s public funding.

In a branch of state government that is so vital for the safety of Los
Angeles County citizens, such a lack of responsibility and failure to
adhere to basic policies is unacceptable. AHF is leading the call for
Public Health Department reform in Los Angeles County, and is asking all
citizens to voice the need for an investigation into the Department’s
actions and policies by calling their district Supervisors.

Don’t know what to say? Try:

“I am a citizen of [your city] and I am asking you to protect my
county health services. The lack of accountability and unprofessional
leadership in the Los Angeles County Public Health Department must be
investigated -- I am asking you to protect me and your other
constituents by joining us in demanding this investigation.”